Syeda Mazhar
Pakistan has been under the shadow of terrorism for quite some time, tackling insults to its integrity. Political instability in the nation aside, the general population has been in a state of stress as well. After 2-3 years of great efforts, Pakistan is now able to see the light taking over the shadows of terrorism. People have started to appreciate the change; however, the grief of those who sacrificed themselves cannot be taken for granted. Lest it is not acknowledged that this change did not occur by itself but after some actions.
16th December 2014, known as Black Day, when students were massacred in the Peshawar school attack. Every individual mourned for the children who went to school to study but never came back. It was when the Government of Pakistan and other institutions retaliated by taking a severe action against any sort of terrorist activity.
All the provincial governments are now playing their roles in the implementation of National Action Plan after a long period of ignorance. Pakistan made its first Counter Terrorism Department consisting of 1,500 people who were trained accordingly by the Turk National Police. The Crime Investigation Department was also worked upon and changes were made for improvement. About 90,608 cases have been filed so far by the actions taken by the Government of Punjab. Strict actions have been taken from time to time against wall chalking, political hate, exhibition of weapons and other illegal activities. The madarassas were made to register and were held accountable for any unusual activity. It was imposed that if any madarassas were found to be involved in illegal activities, they will be accused of terrorism.
The first step that was taken was the budgeting of NACTA and providing them with everything that was essential for the war against terrorism. NACTA was made the head of other institutions who were working against terrorism in order to manage everything in a proper manner. The second action that was taken was the operation in Waziristan which moved from bombing to creating a livelihood for the general population so that Zarb-e-Azb wouldn’t face reversals. Later the Afghanistan border was taken care of by surveillance, digging and patrolling. It was significant due to the constant connection between the terrorists from both the sides of the borders.
During all this time strict actions were taken against literature, magazines, journalism and media which were promoting sectarianism and intolerance. Strict implementation through PEMRA was made by putting a stop to glorification of terrorist organizations through media. The communication network of terrorists that they used in their activities was annihilated completely. Implementing laws on all the different networking markets in business, made this possible. NAP led to the operations in Karachi which has made the conditions a lot better than before. Different gangs were arrested and all the illegal activities were taken care of according to the law. The refugees that moved to Pakistan were all registered and comprehensive policies were established to deal with their issues.
Perceiving the current situation, Pakistan has already welcomed China-Pakistan Economic Corridor which has created economic stability in a very short span. This corridor will make Pakistan economically strong and infrastructural improvement is already being noticed by the general population of Pakistan. The CPEC project is being worked upon and has been assured by both the parties regardless of the risk of the maritime security in the future. The trade will open up new ways for Pakistan but a lot of planning has to done for security. Pakistan Navy is providing security to the Gwadar Port currently and plans on improving the situation there.
This is one project that is being supported by and is in favor of all the political parties for the improvement in economic status of Pakistan. Special Forces have been, as per the promise made by the government, improved the security along the trade routes to maintain the friendly relationship between the countries. It has further led to the emergence of Mustafa Kamal’s party and sudden downfall of another political party. It has impacted the success of Zarb-e-Azb and has influenced the armed forces. The country is becoming a strong emerging economy after all these years of struggle and a lot of progress has been observed lately. Regardless of all the criticisms, NAP is still being implemented for further improvement.
Apart from all the facts based work that has been done due to the implementation NAP, there are things that have been slowing down the progress. All the political and religious parties have their differences and somehow are involved in organized crimes which have slowed or come in between the actions being taken against what’s in their favor. There is lack of sharing of information among LEAs due to the overlapping of functions and jurisdictions because of zero accountability. Regardless of all the resistance that Pakistan is facing currently, NAP is still being implemented. For better or worse, we have yet to make that decision.
